Monthly Archives: July 2012

Just before we go any further (I’m aware we’ve not even started yet), this recipe is NOT raw -I repeat – NOT raw. I use creamed coconut (shock, horror!). Now I’m not saying that it’s impossible for this recipe to be raw, it’s just that making your own raw creamed coconut requires a fancy Champion Masticating Juicer, which I haven’t got. If you have got one, great! You can make this raw. If not (like me) you have permission to sulk and feel sorry for yourself and reach for the shop bought creamed coconut instead. If you do go for the shop bought creamed coconut, try and go for a nice organic one by Biona. This will make you feel better about the fact you don’t have a Champion Masticating Juicer. One day, one day…

(Oh and if you do have a Champion Masticating Juicer and you plan on making raw creamed coconut but in the end, you can’t be arsed…it’s ok- there’s always the lure of shop bought creamed coconut waiting for you in the aisles)

This recipe is adapted from Kate Magic’s Iced Coconut recipe in Eat Smart, Eat Raw. In Kate’s recipe, she tells you how to make creamed coconut using your Champion Masticating Juicer, so if you’ve got one, it might be worth investing in this book as Kate uses this particular juicer a lot.

The three main changes I have made to this recipe are the additional ground almonds, goji berries and said shop bought creamed coconut. I have to say though, the end result is de-lish-ous. If you’ve got a food processor, you can make this fudge. It is so easy and will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge. It’s also the perfect travel companion. I made a batch of forty pieces for the family I cook for as a snack to take on holiday with them (I didn’t quite give them all of the forty peices. I may have accidentally saved a few for me). If you’re new to raw food, this is a good one to get started with. Oh, wait – this isn’t raw is it? Well, it close enough and tastes ridiculously good, too.

¾ C goji berries (ground in a coffee grinder if possible but not essential)

1 C goji berries (for topping)

½ tsp sea salt

Instructions

Place the chopped creamed coconut into the food processor and mix until process until crumbly.

Add the ground or whole goji berrries (3/4 of a cup) to the coconut and process again.

Next add the dates and agave. Process well until all the mixture has come together to form a dough.

Line a baking tray (one that you would make flapjack in) and line with cling film. Tip the fudge mixture into the tray and using your hands, press down to fill the whole of the tray and smooth the top flat.

Take the remaining cup of goji berries and sprinkle on the top of the fudge. Press down to secure the gojis in the fudge mixture.

Place in the freezer for 1-2 to firm.

Remove from the freezer and carefully lift out of the tray, using the cling film to help you.

Tip on to a chopping board and cut into peices (4cm squares are good).

I’d never really eaten much papaya in my life, until I went to Bali last year to do my raw chef certification course. In the UK, the papaya’s we get flown over look like this:

The papaya that I enjoyed on a regular basis in Bali looked like this:

Hmm. I think it’s safe to say we’re not really supposed to be eating papaya in the UK. However! If I see a papaya reduced, and I know that it’s going to be thrown in a skip if no one purchases it, I will allow myself the little treat of buying it. It’s not just for the delicious taste of papaya that I buy it for; papaya skin makes one of the best face masks around! I can’t remember where I first read that rubbing the wet side of papaya skin on your face give you a glow, but let me tell you now that this is absolutely true! The reason for this is that papaya skin gives you a natural deep enzyme treatment (the kind of thing that you’d pay £50 for in a beauty salon). It also acts as a gentle exfoliant to remove dead skin cells and leaves your skin wonderfully nourished and soft. If you want to give one of natures best facial treatments a go, here’s how: Cut a papaya in half and scoop out the flesh, wash your face with your usual product and gently pat your face dry with a towel (to state the bleedin’ obvious. Well you’re not going to ‘pat your face dry with sand paper’ are you?). Next, take the papaya skin and rub the inside of it on your face in a circular motion; you should find this very refreshing and cooling. Your skin will have a thin layer of papaya on it, and you may find you look a bit like an Oompa Loompa. This is good. Leave the papaya mask on for about 5 minutes, and rinse with cool water. Pat skin dry again and look in the mirror to see your new healthy glowing skin!

Now what to do with your left over papaya fruit?? Eat it as it is? Yes, OR – make these scrumtastic Papaya & Coconut Noodles with Peanut Sauce. It’s very simple to make and all you will need is a spiralizer (or veg peeler) and a blender. Sorted.

These last few weeks my breakfasts have been far from the accepted ‘norm’. What started as a breakfast consisting of fridge and cupboard leftovers, is now becoming something in itself. It may vary slightly each time, but the main dish I am having for breakfast each morning is a delicious mound of kale massaged with avocado, olive oil, lemon, salt and a touch a cumin. Is it weird that I salivate over that much in the same way as I would over a huge slab of chocolate? There is just something about a creamy kale salad with mashed avocado and maybe half a coconut and banana (trust me) on the side that is just so satisfying. I’ve always had this love of greens though. I was a strange child. My two favourite things to eat were spring greens and peas. I would often get into an argument with my brother if I felt he had a bigger portion of either of these two things than me. Another thing I used to do as a child, and I’m not joking here, was eat the majority of my vegetables raw. Honest! With a Sunday roast I would have raw carrot cut into little tiny sticks, and raw brussel sprouts covered in gravy. Weird. I would always have roast potatoes though, of course… Then as a teenager, after eating a Cadbury’s Double Decker on the way home from school, I would get in the house and munch on half a raw cauliflower; so it wasn’t as if I was this saintly girl, I just genuinely loved the taste of raw veg! I think that’s why when I discovered this whole ‘raw scene’ it just made so much sense to me. I really don’t want to say “It felt like coming home” because I may have to be sick in my mouth, but in a way, it sort of did. Anyway, I digress! I’ll talk more about my raw food journey another time. For now, I’m talking about kale and a new green discovery of mine – wild horseradish leaf! Horseradish can be found on banks, hedgerows or on ditch edges, but the super strong plant will pretty much grow anywhere. In fact, there is some wild horseradish growing in my garden, which is where I get my regular supply from. If you didn’t know what you were looking for, you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for a weed (well, it is a weed really, I suppose..) The leaves of horseradish look incredibly similar to dock leaves, but the biggest difference is that horseradish leaves are toothed and wavy, and dock leaves aren’t:

Horseradish leaf

It is the root of the plant which is most commonly used to make horseradish sauce, a popular condiment in Britain that is very good friends with roast beef. But we don’t wanna be eating roast beef and horseradish sauce now do we?! No, no, no, my friend…we wanna be eating the greens, of course! And what delicious nutritious greens they are! With a hot peppery taste and packed full calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, and potassium, they make the perfect fiery addition to any salad or raw burger, or used as a wrap for making raw dolma. Roll the leafs up and slice to shred like so:

Add the shredded leaves to any dish where you would normally add greens, or simply marinate them in olive oil, lemon, salt, agave, cumin and crushed coriander seed. I put a handful in a large bowl of creamy kale salad to give it a punch and a good dose of wild green goodness.

Use wild horseradish leaf to give this salad a wonderful peppery kick. If horseradish leaf is hard to get hold of, you can easily substitute the leafs for another fiery green such as watercress or rocket.

: Elaine Glover

: Main

: 4

: 5 mins

: 5 mins

: 10 mins

Ingredients

1 400g bag of kale, washed

2-3 large horseradish leaves, shredded

1 avocado, mashed

2 tbsp tamari

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp cumin

½ lemon, juiced

½ tsp salt

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and massage with your hands for 1 minute to break down the tough fibres of the kale.

Serve just as it is, or add some additional chopped veg if you like, such as tomatoes, cucumber, grated carrot or beetroot, or sprinkle on some sprouts if you have some in too.

Blimey. Has it really been 20 whole days since I last blogged? What on earth have I been up to? It either must have been a) so riveting and engrossing that I couldn’t have possibly found the time in between all the travelling around meeting fancy people to sit down to my laptop to write, or b) a bit boring and normal and not really very interesting to write about. I shall leave it up to you to decide. Ooo, mysterious…

One thing I did do in the time I went AWOL, was make this unbelievably scrumptious raw Mango & Goji Crème Pie. I made it for the family that I cook for in Brighton. They aren’t raw but they can’t say no the odd raw dessert every now and again! I have adapted this recipe from the Matthew Kenney one in Everyday Raw (Banana Crème Pie), and I have to say it’s pretty bloody good. The combined flavours of mango, coconut and goji berries go together like a dream, and the salty goji-brazil nut crust is a welcomed addition to the creaminess of the pie filling. Heaven.

If you have a basic blender and a food processor, you can make this Mango & Goji Crème Pie too! It’s very easy to put together, it just takes a bit of measuring, whizzing, pouring and scattering and you’re done. If you get the urge to shove your face into it once it’s made, you whole heartedly have my consent.

Make the crust. In a food processor place the nuts, shredded coconut and ground goji berries, and blend until it resembles breadcrumbs. Next add the coconut oil, agave and vanilla and pulse so that it comes together to form a more doughy consistency.

Take a 9" pie tin, or other container of roughly the same size, and press the crust mixture into the bottom of the tin. Gently mould the mixture with your fingers so the edges of the mixture comes up the side of the tin.

To make the mango creme filling, place everything except the coconut oil in a blend and mix until smooth. Then add the coconut oil, blend again until thoroughly mixed. Pour on top of the crust mixture in the tin.

Now, make the coconut creme. Again, place everything in the blender apart from the coconut oil and blend to mix. Add the coconut oil a mix everything together until it looks like cream. Pour on top of the mango creme filling, taking care whilst you gently spread it out.

Finally drain your soaked goji berries and scatter them on top of the pie.

Place in the fridge for 1-2 so that it can set. Will keep in the fridge for 4 days